Should the government be allowed to control the power company?

As the saga continues on our Philippine television sets (until something else happens), should the government be allowed to control our electricity. After having seen how they run this country, would we really want them to?

Let me describe a situation regarding this. Is the country leading to an oligarchy or have we been living it all this time?

Ever since we “declared” our independence, powerful families have controlled our country for generations. Almost everyone who has or is elected or appointed into power is related to a certain degree from another.

Banking institutions, electricity, television, newspapers, telco companies, malls, groceries, basic products and so on. And we let them. Why? To a certain degree, they’re doing a lot better job than the government. But in any system there’s always a bad side. We have monopolies. We don’t see it but it’s there. Why else why there isn’t any Ikea or Target here in the Philippines? Why are our phone companies limited to cities that they are given licenses? The government says that it’s there to protect us. But it’s there to protect those who owns these business. We are unable to compete in the global economy because our country operates in a closed environment.

Wouldn’t it be better for us “little” people to have a very competitive atmosphere? We all act this way because we’re too engrossed in petty arguments that have no real impact to the ordinary person. The sad part is that we eat it all up. Everything that our television, newspapers and radio reports is more enthralling than any soap opera on tv. In any case, I want to be proven wrong. I want to believe that every little thing I do amounts to something good, not only for me but also for others. But if everything would be as strictly controlled as everything as they want it to. Then it’s best to look somewhere else for progress.